


Any Future (Beside You)

by shetlandowl



Series: Budapest Christmas [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, warning: god awful name for genitals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 17:05:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12686424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shetlandowl/pseuds/shetlandowl
Summary: The immediate continuation of Budapest Christmas, or: how Steve and Tony begin to navigate their new life together.





	Any Future (Beside You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mushroom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mushroom/gifts).



> I heard (read) through the grapevine (Tumblr) that it was someone’s birthday this weekend... and that someone likes domestic fluff. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUSHROOM! I hope this brings a smile on your special day ❤️

“We can’t stay in this car forever.” 

Tony frowned a little at the reminder, but he still wouldn’t look up and away from their joined hands. 

“Sure we can,” he mumbled stubbornly, and watched as Steve only squeezed his hands a little tighter. 

“We have to go back,” Steve said patiently, speaking calmly so that Tony wouldn’t feel rushed. “I don’t care who walks out of this car with me, so long as it is you.”

“Okay, but I think Schrodinger did a study on what you’re—”

Steve leaned in and silenced him with a chaste kiss. “I don’t care if it is Tony Stark or Tony Edwards who steps out of this car,” he whispered. “This is your decision. Either way, I will be with you. You will not face them alone. You don’t have to go back to Manhattan—”

“Yes, I do,” Tony said with a sigh, and Steve fell silent to listen. “Or nothing will change.”

“Is this your fight?” Steve asked after a momentary hesitation. “Other companies will continue to build weapons; wars will continue to happen.”

Tony frowned, and finally he looked up from their joined hands to meet Steve’s gaze. “It’s not about ending war, Steve. It’s about legacy—about investing in the future we want to see.” 

Slowly, Steve nodded in understanding. He rubbed his thumbs over Tony’s knuckles gently, and eventually, he asked the only question that mattered. 

“Then, which future do you want to build? Tony Edwards the family man, or Tony Stark, the inventor?” 

*** 

Friends and family alike were too excited by the caravan of black Cadillacs and all the tall, imposing men in black suits standing at attention for Tony and Steve to return unseen. Murmurs of curiosity and confusion rose around them as soon as they walked into the little yellow house, and Tony followed Steve’s lead this time in politely greeting and passing their guests without answering them. 

From somewhere unseen in the house, a tinkling crescendo of tapping glasses rose over the multitude of quiet conversations until Steve swept Tony into his arms and, laughing, pressed a tender kiss to his partner’s lips. 

Family and friends around them cheered with applause and the occasional (but enthusiastic) whistling. 

“Steve? Tony,” Joseph called when the excitement quieted down, and finally the crowd seemed to know to calm down and let them through. Without letting go of his hand, Steve let Tony walk ahead of him, following close enough that no-one could squeeze between and separate them. 

“Dad—mom,” Tony said in undertone and reached for Sarah with his free hand in an unspoken request for her to come closer. “There is something I need to, uh—to say.”

“We need to talk,” Steve added more firmly. “Just us.”

“Alright, son,” Joseph said easily enough, only glancing Sarah’s way for confirmation before he stepped around them to reach the nearest stairs. She didn’t need to say anything, and instead only handed him his glass of champagne. 

Joseph climbed the first two steps, and turning to the crowd, he waited. He didn’t tap his glass or clear his throat, but the guests soon quieted all the same to hear what he had to say. 

“Dear family and friends, the evening is growing late,” he began, his serious tone belied by the smile he couldn’t quite suppress. “On behalf of Sarah and myself, I would like to thank you all for being here today, and for celebrating the union of our son, Steve, and his husband, Tony.”

When he spoke Tony’s name, any effort to suppress his happiness was abandoned, and before he could continue, he looked towards his family with a warm, affectionate expression that he rarely shared in public. “We have known Tony about as long as many of you have: almost to the day, he came into our lives five weeks ago. He may not realize this himself, but he entered our lives when we were facing our darkest hour. When we feared the worst for our family. 

“Five weeks ago, Sarah and I only had one son, whom we believed we had lost to heartbreak. We did not think we would hear from him this Christmas, let alone see him. But Tony, you brought love back into our son's life. You brought him home. There is no doubt in my mind that you have saved our family. Sarah and I have learned so much from you simply by witnessing the generosity of your love, for us, for Steve, and for friends and strangers. 

“Marriage is never easy, but you will never be alone for the challenges ahead. Remember that your family, and your friends, will be here for you both, when you need us. Whatever the future brings, there will always be a home for you here.” 

With that, he turned to Tony directly, and with another cautious smile, he addressed him personally. 

“Tony, we are honored by the privilege to call you family, and our son.” 

Joseph watched his family only long enough to know when to turn back to their guests and direct attention away from Tony. “Now, before we bid you all good night, please help me in raising a toast to their good health and their continued happiness.” 

Their guests were quick to find their glasses and raise them high. 

“To Steve and Tony!”

*** 

“Son, I will need you to explain this to me one more time.”

Tony glanced at Steve a little warily, unsure of how to better explain. 

“We were working through some things, pops,” Steve explained when Tony looked to him for help. “We—it was important that you saw who Tony was without all the clout--the wealth and the fame. The timing was ...well, that wasn’t—” 

“Steve didn’t know I was here,” Tony continued seamlessly when Steve’s words faltered. “I—that was my decision, on impulse, I wanted to know this town that he talked about, to see what a life here would be. We… we hit a rough patch, with the long hours and not seeing each other, and it—I came here to, to see what it was like. I thought… I thought it would help, to see the people and the places Steve loved so much.” 

Sarah looked from one to the other with a sort of determination that clearly warred with her confusion. “So you ...lied? Because you thought we couldn’t love Tony if ...he had money?”

“I know better now,” Tony said unevenly, and Steve squeezed his knee gently to help steady him. “But, it’s… I didn’t mean any offense, that’s just what my experience always has been. I wanted to know what it would be like.”

Sarah didn’t seem convinced, but when she glanced at Joseph and at Steve, they did not appear to share her confusion. 

“I don’t understand,” she confessed when Joseph only continued to think behind his frown, and the boys didn’t offer any further comments. 

Tony glanced at Steve, then cleared his throat. “When I worked for SI, my hourly rate for consultancy started at 2,000 dollars.”

Joseph’s expression didn’t change, except that he forgot to blink for some time. Beside him, Sarah sat up absolutely straight in shock. 

“He tried to leave,” Steve said when his parents didn’t seem to react. 

“That’s not fair!” Tony hissed, but Steve squeezed his hand again and held out the check Tony had written out to Joseph and Sarah. Joseph accepted it and passed it to Sarah, but neither of them opened it. 

“You thought we would be happy with money?” Sarah asked, approaching horrified. “You thought money could take your place?”

“It seems we have some things to work through as a family,” Joseph started to say, but Sarah wasn’t so easily mollified. 

“We will. Tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas, and the next day you will come to the house, and we will talk about this until it is clear to _every_ member of this family that people and kindness are priceless. And if ever,” she continued emphatically, “ _ever_ you think you can so casually be replaced, I will wash your mouth out with dish soap. Am I understood?”

She tore the envelope with Tony’s check neatly in half, then again into quarters, and left the pieces in a tidy pile on the coffee table. 

“We’ll see you in the morning for breakfast,” she said and stood up, shrugging into her cozy, big cardigan. “Don’t be late, please: 9 am.”

“We won’t be late,” Tony promised and quickly got to his feet, too, and his urgency to please her and do good made Sarah smile a little despite her disappointment. She stepped around the coffee table and wrapped him up in her arms, rubbing his back with firm, soothing hands. 

“We love you, sweetheart,” she reminded him softly. “That’s not a conditional statement, it is a promise. You’ll see.”

***

“This feels weird.”

Steve hummed softly in question from the master bathroom. He was already dressed for bed after his shower, and was now rubbing a towel over his wet hair so it wouldn't turn into a cowlick overnight. When Tony didn’t continue speaking, Steve paused what he was doing long enough to step back into the bedroom. 

“What’s weird?” he wondered, scrubbing a little half-heartedly at his hair again. 

“Are we… I mean, we’ve had sex. But this feels...” Tony trailed off with a shrug. “We’re together. Are we supposed to … _you know_.”

Steve’s expression twisted a little in understanding, and he let the towel drop across his shoulders as he sat down next to Tony on the bed. 

“We do whatever is right for us,” he eventually said. “I’m in no rush, if that’s… you know, a concern.”

“I don’t want to sleep in pajamas,” Tony confessed. “Would that bother you?”

Steve smiled and shook his head no, then, for clarification, only asked, “Do you want me to wear pajamas?” 

“Not on your life,” Tony swore without hesitation, and Steve laughed at his unexpected honesty. Then, with substantially less excitement, he said, “But, I am tired.”

“Hey,” Steve whispered, nudging Tony’s shoulder lightly with his own. “I’m tired, too. It’s been a long day.”

Tony groaned emphatically in agreement, scrubbing at his face in his frustration. “But… isn’t that depressing? No sex on our wedding night?” 

“Well, maybe,” Steve admitted after some thought. “Except, we’re not technically married yet.” 

Tony blinked up at him in surprise, because somewhere along the way, he had forgotten that crucial technicality. 

“You don’t even have a ring on your finger,” Steve pointed out. “I’d like my husband to wear a ring. _I_ would like to wear a ring.” 

“You do?” Tony couldn’t help but ask, breathless. “You—Steve, you don’t have to; we can have a quiet ceremony, nobody has to know—“

Steve frowned at the suggestion, the easy humor from moments earlier fading in his confusion. “And why would I want to keep it secret?”

“You don’t understand,” Tony blurted out before he could choose his words more wisely; Steve’s expression only turned _worse_. “The paparazzi, the—the media, the lies, the—you don’t deserve to live like that, Steve. You don’t have to. They prey on every sliver of shit they can find, they’ll dig up everything, about you, mom and dad—anything that sells. And if our marriage is made public when I close the weapons division, they’ll blame it on you.”

Steve’s sour expression eased into a smile when Tony’s concern dawned on him. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But, if anyone will be cheating on anyone,” Steve continued casually, “let your lawyers know that I’ll be offended by anyone less attractive than that Harry Potter guy.”

“...I’m sorry,” Tony enunciated carefully once the shock wore off. “You’re leaving me for Daniel Radcliffe?”

Steve snorted a laugh at the thought. “Hell no, I’d break my neck with a—uh, I mean, he’s what, 5’4?” he suddenly stammered when Tony cut him a dangerous side-eye, and he rushed to back-track. “No, the guy in the Getting Away With Murder show.” 

“Dean Thomas?” Tony guessed, perking up at the thought. “That’s acceptable, I guess. Swirl’s always hot.”

“And Helen Mirren, if I have to cheat on you with a woman,” Steve added readily, but Tony pushed off the bed and made to leave before Steve could finish his sentence. Steve rushed after him, and, laughing, bundled Tony up in his arms. 

“Tony!” he said with a smile, carrying his uncooperative partner back to the bed, “it’s a joke!”

“It’s not funny,” Tony complained petulantly, refusing to look Steve in the eyes however Steve tried to turn and peer at him. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve tried to say with a straight face, sitting down on the bed finally with Tony still captive in his lap. “Tony, come on. Look at me?”

“Don’t you read the rags? Don’t you—” Tony cut himself off with an abrupt huff, then with a sudden rush of emotions, said, “What if—what if they say things about me?”

Steve watched Tony’s profile carefully, trying to assess where it was coming from. “Then…” he started, a little uncertainly, “well, I’d ask, if it was serious.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but he still wouldn’t look at Steve. 

“And you’d believe me?” he drawled, dubious. “After five weeks of lies, you’d believe me?”

“You might have lied to me, and to many people, but you never deceived anyone,” Steve answered patiently. “You’ve earned the benefit of the doubt, Tony.”

His answer must have been unexpected, because Tony had no immediate response to that. Instead, he looked down at where Steve’s hands were draped across his lap, and with a tentative, gentle touch, he closed his hands over Steve’s, securing them around himself. 

“What if,” he said again, “they tell you of things I have done? True things.”

Steve nuzzled into Tony’s shoulder with a thoughtful hum. “Like what?”

“After mom passed, I did… a lot,” Tony whispered. “Sex, drugs, misdemeanors.”

Steve turned his hand over until he could hold one of Tony’s, and he brought Tony’s hand up to press a kiss to the back of his knuckles. “Did it help?” he asked quietly. 

“It helped me forget, for a while,” Tony admitted, and without turning to look, he curled his fingers against Steve’s lips until he felt another kiss pressed to his skin. 

“You know I don’t care that you’ve slept with other people, don’t you?” Steve asked after a brief silence. “We wouldn’t have gotten to know each other if you… I mean—”

“If I wasn’t a man of questionable morals?”

“If you weren’t a man brave enough to say yes,” Steve corrected, gently but honestly, and without irony. “I was so afraid, for so long,” he continued in a whisper, and Tony curled towards him a little to listen. “Afraid of rejection. Of opening up to the wrong person.”

“You waited for people you care about,” Tony said in Steve’s defense, but Steve shook his head. 

“I waited for Peggy. The other two, we, uh,” Steve cleared his throat. “Invited. She invited.”

Carefully, Tony turned in his arms until he faced Steve. “I’m sure you were magnificent, handsome. But I don’t intend to share, if it’s all the same to you.”

Steve couldn’t help but smile to see Tony face to face again, and he leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth in reply. “Well. _If_ you insist.”

“I’m afraid I will,” Tony murmured quietly, reaching to hook a finger around the collar of Steve’s long-sleeved tee. “Could I insist on one more thing?”

Steve followed Tony’s finger and watched as he tugged on the sleep shirt. “Depends on what it is, Tony.”

“I want to see my husband,” he whispered, “my fiancée. Show me the cow I bought.”

“Hey! _Rude_ ,” Steve accused through a laugh, and with a heave, Steve got up on his feet with Tony securely in his arms just to drop his partner back on the bed. Tony landed with a yelp of surprised laughter. “How about you ask nicely?”

“Baby,” Tony purred, flashing Steve a charming grin, “my generous nighttime lover, I love your spunk—and your feisty attitude,” he added, making Steve snort and giggle. “Why do you deprive me of your plentiful manmeat, snugglepuss? Let me lick your lats and squeeze your traps. I want to hike the Happy Trail and climb Mount Fuckmetender—”

“Tony, stop it!” Steve wheezed through his laughter, and in the spare seconds he had before Tony got going again, Steve quickly reached over his back and pulled the soft sleepshirt off. He let the shirt drop to the floor without a word, but Tony had lost all interest in everything beside Steve’s nude torso. 

Tony rose up on his knees and inched his way closer, and with a cautious hope, he reached for the strings keeping Steve’s pajama pants snug around his waist. Steve didn’t step closer or offer to help him, and only watched Tony undoing the bow one string at a time, slow and reverent like a man opening a cherished gift. 

“Come closer,” Tony murmured, tugging on the waistband of Steve’s pajamas once he had gotten them undone. Obliging as he was, Steve followed Tony’s lead and took a step closer to the bed, close enough for Tony to peek in and learn that the answer to _boxers or briefs_ for his husband was _neither_. 

“God, why didn’t I appreciate you when I first met you?” Tony asked Steve’s cock mournfully. “To think I might never have seen you again.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re dramatic?” Steve wondered, but Tony exhaled a warm breath over his cock and neatly shut him up. 

“Don’t listen to him, Erasmus,” Tony whispered, and as Steve caught up and opened his mouth to veto Erasmus as a name for his cock, Tony reached around and slipped both hands into Steve’s pajama pants, molding his hands around Steve’s firm, round ass. He glanced up in question, needing to be sure Steve consented before he slid his hands down the back of Steve’s legs and dragged his pajamas down, revealing inch after inch of naked skin. 

“Hello, handsome,” he lovingly greeted Steve’s half-hard cock, pressing a soft kiss to the shaft. “I missed you.”

“I’m starting to feel like a third wheel here,” Steve muttered half-heartedly as Tony pushed the pants down his thighs and let them drop to the floor. 

“You’re special, too, snappea,” Tony promised him, nuzzling into his groin affectionately. Steve shuffled his feet a little nervously as his cock grew hard with interest, until finally Tony looked up to see what Steve was doing. 

“I thought,” Steve said unevenly until his voice cracked, then quickly cleared his throat to try again. “I thought we were taking things slow?”

Tony blinked up at him as if the words were unfamiliar to him. 

“We were tired?” Steve tried again. 

“Can’t I just say hi to an old friend?” Tony pouted, then purposefully inhaled deeply against Steve’s cock. Steve sucked in a shaky breath, and reached down to wrap his hand around his own cock, pulling it away from Tony’s expectant lips. 

“ _Steve_ ,” he whined, frowning up at Steve’s blushing face. “Now who’s being rude.”

“Another night, Tony,” Steve reminded him with what little patience he could muster. “Your turn.”

Tony looked up at Steve wryly, but he didn’t waste time evening the scales. He sat back on his haunches, and without flair or dramatics, he pulled his t-shirt off. 

“You’re not doing it right—Tony,” Steve complained with a quiet laugh, and he took Tony’s t-shirt out of his hands and dropped it somewhere on the floor near his own. “How about you lie back?”

“Oh, now you’re the master of undressing me?” Tony teased as Steve crawled onto the bed, crowding him between his arms until Tony laid back with his body spread wide in invitation, surrendering to Steve’s care. 

“You might say it’s been on my mind for a while,” Steve admitted in undertone. “Maybe I’d appreciate some practice?”

“Practice?”

“Stop complaining and lift your hips,” Steve muttered with a grin, and Tony was quick to obey, allowing Steve to roll the boxers down and off Tony’s body. He coaxed a string of breathless sounds out of Tony by nuzzling the soft skin of his inner thigh, then shifting up a little farther and humming softly to himself in appreciation, murmuring praise under his breath. 

“My memory doesn’t do you justice,” Steve confessed once the boxers had been dropped to the floor. “How are you so lean?”

Tony smirked at the tone of awe. “Says my very own man-mountain?”

“I have mass, fat—mom’s been feeding you for weeks, you should be—”

“We’re naked together for the first time as a couple and you’re worried about my health?”

Steve stared at him, and it was his turn to sit back on his haunches, straddling Tony’s hips. “What in our history together makes that a surprise?”

“That’s fair, I guess,” Tony admitted after a few moments, shuffling a little to lean back on his elbows. “Care to feed me, pumpkin?”

Steve leaned forward to kiss Tony’s lips, a lingering kiss that wasted little time developing from chaste to needful; once they parted for air, Steve could only continue sucking on Tony’s lips for more of his taste. 

“Kiss me like that every day for the rest of my life,” Tony whispered breathlessly. “Or you’re on the couch.” 

“As you wish,” Steve promised, then laughed quietly against Tony’s lips. “But it’s time for bed, don’t you think?” 

Tony frowned at the reminder. “If you insist.”

“Do _you_ want to be late to mom’s Christmas breakfast?” 

“No, I suppose not,” Tony admitted, his expression growing sour at the very thought. “Then it’s Howard’s funeral.”

“Howa—your dad?” Steve frowned at the thought, “baby, when? What?”

“Happy said it’s before New Years. The 27th, I think?” 

“So,” Steve thought out loud, stretching out beside Tony and draping himself over Tony’s lap, keeping him warm under his bulk. “We need to get back to the city and married before the 27th.”

“And rings. I heard recently that we need rings,” Tony added with a straight face, which only made Steve roll his eyes and face plant against Tony’s stomach. “Hey. Don’t be difficult, Steven.”

“I’m not being difficult,” Steve sighed, then shifted against him until he could curl against Tony’s body and nuzzle in against his side. “How long do you think all that’ll take?” 

“Well,” Tony said quietly, trying to think through each step. “The rings could take a day, even expedited. The marriage will take half an hour, max. Do you know who your witness will be? I’m asking Pepper,” he added when Steve glanced up at him. 

“Natasha,” Steve eventually replied. “She’s the only one who knows. She can keep this quiet.” 

“Morning of the 26th,” Tony decided. “Tell her to meet us in Stark Tower. Manhattan. My butler, he can ordain us and get all the papers ready—“ 

“Tony, babe, sweetheart,” Steve interrupted before Tony got too far ahead of himself. “Tony, this is great, but—calm down, honey. We don’t need to figure it all out this minute. We’ll do it first thing in the morning, okay? But it’s Christmas Eve. It’s nearly midnight. Or should I have specified when I said I wanted to take my husband to bed that I would prefer to be under the covers than on top of them?” 

“I’d love to help you, but I’m kind of indisposed right now under, what? 250 pounds of muscles? How do you expect—oh!” 

Steve pushed off the bed while Tony was still listing his grievances and effortlessly swept Tony into his arms, surprising him enough to temporarily silence him. 

“You really need to eat more,” he commented absently as he shuffled under the turned down blankets and into bed, with Tony still safely in his arms. 

“You need to lift less,” Tony countered with a little pout, but he curled into Steve’s chest all the same as they started to warm up under the heavy blankets. “I’m perfectly proportional.” 

Steve smiled when Tony tried to smother a yawn, and rather than continue the moot argument, he drew Tony in close to his side, and slowly, gently, started to knead the back of Tony’s neck as they settled in to sleep. 

“You are, my love,” he whispered into Tony’s soft hair. “I want to be with you, my Tony, just as you are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you ever feel like a Stony chat, [I'm on Tumblr (as shetlandowl)](http://shetlandowl.tumblr.com/) more often than I should be.


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